Ship

But this is a horse I’ve fallen from, and I am going to do whatever I can do get back on. If that includes riding the ideas of those much more intelligent than myself, then so be it. I’m not ashamed of that.

For the past two years, I’ve been riding this wave of ideas that I’ve tried to carry out, but, due to circumstances only partly under my control, I have not been able to carry them to fruition and completion. See, I’ve been in three school districts in the last three years. That type of mobility is not often seen in education (or should I say, seen in good light in education), but it has been a wonderful experience to meet so many talented educators and professionals in each of these places.

What bothers me most about the moves is that I still don’t know how well the ideas we all hatched worked in a supported environment. What I mean by that is when you work with a group of people to create something new within curriculum, staff development or educational technology,but don’t stick around for its implementation, it’s hard to measure how much of a difference the new model made to student learning. The support systems you would have put in place may or may not be what the person who follows you is up for–and that is their prerogative. Each new leader has to come and work with what’s in place, but they also have to make it their own as well.

So what does this mean in regards to the title of this post? Easy. I want to ship this year, much like Doug did in 2011,

but I want to make sure that I fully support the ideas that get shipped when they hit the ground next September.

For some reason, I have always been the type of person that needs to work under deadlines to fend off stagnation or atrophy. Case in point: I’ve been a runner for most of my life, but I am at my best (disciplined, dedicated, injuy-free) when there is a scheduled, paid-for race on the calendar in the months ahead. That was the case with the Finger Lakes Fifty, the Vermont 50, and with countless other races. If there is no way out of it, I buckle down. So the other day, I registered for the Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect on September 29th, 2012. I put it on the calendar, paid for my admission, and I am going to ship.

Now, professionally, what will be my September 29th-type event? Being so new to the district I am working in, I am still figuring that out, but I have a few hunches. As they roll out this spring, I’ll be updating them here to insure that they meet with the same dedication and discipline that the Megatransect will have.